Chase Ultimate Rewards points or Capital One miles: Which camp are you in? Each transferable currency provides a wide suite of transfer partners and impressive travel portal rates, delivering outsize value.
According to TPG's September 2025 valuations, the competition is close, with Chase Ultimate Rewards points being worth 2.05 cents each and Capital One miles worth 1.85 cents each.
Just as impressive are the travel rewards credit cards associated with each currency. Although I'm biased toward Chase as a decadelong customer, Capital One and its rewards program are something I can no longer ignore with all its recent enhancements.
Let's examine their differences in detail to help you determine which is the best currency for you.
*Select categories may be subject to spending caps, depending on the card. Check your card's guide to benefits for more information.
Capital One miles
Capital One miles transfer to 15-plus airline and hotel programs. Unfortunately, not all transfers are at a 1:1 ratio.
Current Capital One airline transfer partners include:
Capital One's hotel transfer partners include:
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer 1:1 to 11 airline programs:
Chase also partners with three hotel programs at a ratio of 1:1:
You'll have to determine which issuer's program appeals to you based on your travel habits and your favorite airline or hotel loyalty programs.
Although Capital One may have more transfer partners, some of the loyalty programs, such as Aeromexico Rewards and EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, are quite niche and harder to use.
On the other hand, Chase and Capital One have some overlapping partners, which means you can't go wrong if you're a fan of one of those shared programs.
For example, if you often fly United Airlines, you could transfer either currency to Air Canada Aeroplan and book United flights. However, United's own MileagePlus program only partners with Chase and not Capital One; therefore, United loyalists may prefer earning Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Some of my favorite loyalty programs across both issuers include Air Canada Aeroplan, Air France-KLM Flying Blue, JetBlue TrueBlue and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer.
Chase is the clear winner for fans of large hotel brands, especially with Hyatt as a transfer partner with its impressive award chart and growing portfolio. Capital One miles-earning cards can be great for budget travelers, thanks to partners like Choice Privileges and Wyndham Rewards and their sweet spot redemptions.
TPG Lead Writer Katie Genter prefers to redeem her Wyndham points for nights that cost 7,500 points (although she only pays 6,750 points after her Wyndham cardholder discount). She recently redeemed 6,750 points per night for stays at Tryp by Wyndham Sao Paulo Paulista Paraiso in Brazil and Ramada Encore by Wyndham Busan Station in South Korea.
Now that we've broken down each issuer's transfer partners, it's time to see which currencies have the most compelling welcome offers.
Related: How to redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for maximum value
Capital One miles
Capital One offers many credit cards, but only the following earn bonus miles as part of a welcome offer:
- Capital One Venture X Business: Earn 150,000 bonus miles after spending $30,000 in the first three months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit Card: Receive a $100 credit for Capital One Travel purchases to use in your first cardholder year. Plus, earn 20,000 bonus miles after spending $500 on purchases within three months from account opening.
- Capital One Spark Miles for Business: Earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $4,500 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
The Capital One VentureOne Rewards for Good Credit earns Capital One miles, but unfortunately does not give new cardholders a welcome offer.
Although these welcome offers are high, all of them except for the Venture X Business' don't break the typical 100,000-point bonus threshold that we've been seeing recently with other issuers.
Related: The best time to apply for these popular Capital One credit cards based on offer history
Chase Ultimate Rewards
Chase has four cards that earn transferable Ultimate Rewards points, all of which have generous welcome bonuses:
The information for the Ink Business Preferred has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Your odds of approval depend on Chase's 5/24 rule. If you plan on applying for several cards, consider applying for a Chase card first. Chase has historically had higher welcome offers more often than Capital One, making it an enticing choice for those who want to earn a large sum of Ultimate Rewards points.
Related: Chase credit cards: Best time to apply based on offer history
Earning a welcome bonus is great, but how you earn long-term matters more. The faster and easier you can earn bonus rewards, the more useful a program becomes. Here are some highlights of bonus categories you can find with each issuer:
If you have a card that earns transferable Capital One miles, you can convert cash back from your other cards into transferable miles. This is useful because it allows you to earn across more bonus categories.
For example, if you also have the Capital One Savor Cash Rewards Credit Card, you can earn cash back in the following additional categories:
- Earn 8% cash back on Capital One Entertainment purchases
- Earn 3% cash back on dining, entertainment, grocery stores (excluding superstores like Walmart® and Target®) and popular streaming services
If you pair an eligible cash-back card from Chase with an Ultimate Rewards points-earning card, you can convert that card's cash-back rewards to Ultimate Rewards points as well.
Great options for Chase cash-back cards that can enjoy this benefit include the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (see rates and fees), Chase Freedom Flex® (see rates and fees) and Ink Business Cash® Credit Card (see rates and fees).
Related: Comparing flat-rate with bonus-category cash-back credit cards
Transferring to partner airline or hotel programs is key to getting maximum value for Capital One miles and Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
By transferring my Chase Ultimate Rewards points to an airline and booking a business-class flight, I've received up to 11 cents per point in value.
If transferring rewards feels like too much work, both issuers offer other ways to redeem. Unfortunately, there's less value in those other options.
Capital One miles
Redeem Capital One miles at the following rates:
- Capital One's travel booking site: 1 cent per mile
- Gift cards: 1 cent per mile
- Amazon or PayPal purchases: 0.8 cents per mile
- Cash back: 0.5 cents per mile
Aim to transfer miles to partners for the best value; otherwise, the second-best redemption option is booking travel via Capital One's travel booking site. The other redemption options are useful for some cardholders, but you're throwing away your hard-earned miles with lackluster rates.
TPG Credit Cards Writer Chris Nelson recently chose cash back in the form of a statement credit on a Capital One card to help offset travel expenses he incurred.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points
Chase's redemption options are more lucrative than Capital One's. In addition to redeeming points for gift cards, statement credits or with retailers like Apple, you can redeem your points for Chase Travel bookings.
The Points Boost feature on select cards enables cardholders to redeem for up to 2 cents per point with select airlines and hotels through Chase Travel.
Eligible cards include:
Not all airlines are eligible for Points Boost, and cardholders of either Sapphire Reserve card can redeem Chase Ultimate Rewards points for 2 cents apiece at all The Edit by Chase Travel properties.
I recently redeemed 27,077 points for a two-night stay at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza, giving me great value for a top property.
Chase-issued cards are the clear winner if you're considering redemptions outside of transferring points.
Related: Chase boosts Sapphire Reserve hotel perks with new and improved credits
You can't go wrong with either issuer's rewards program. Both issuers provide various levels of travel cards to fit the needs of everyone, from the infrequent traveler to the global jet-setter.
Capital One miles can be easily earned because their cards offer simple earning rates, including the fan-favorite 2 miles per dollar spent on all nonbonus spending.
Beyond transferring to airline and hotel partners, Chase Ultimate Rewards offers strong redemption options via Chase Travel.
Whichever program you commit to, consider how you can maximize bonus categories to earn faster and determine which transfer partners best fit your needs.
At the end of the day, you could always open cards that earn both transferable currencies.
Related: Amex Membership Rewards vs. Chase Ultimate Rewards points: Which is best?
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
